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Roy Keane has issued a stern warning to Eberechi Eze, stating that "okay" performances won't cut it at the top level.
Following his transfer to Arsenal and his recent start for England, Keane believes Eze needs to step up his game. Eze secured his dream move to his childhood club, Arsenal, last month after impressing with Crystal Palace.
He was the priciest acquisition in an ambitious summer transfer window for Arsenal, which saw the club spend around $350 million on new talent. Expectations are high for Eze in Mikel Arteta's squad, and he faced similar pressure when he started for England against Andorra on Saturday.
The Three Lions managed a 2-0 victory over Andorra at Villa Park, but the performance was poor, with Eze failing to make his mark.
The 27-year-old had two shots saved by the Andorran goalkeeper and sent another promising opportunity over the crossbar.
Despite being given the No. 10 shirt and a free role against a less formidable opponent, Eze may have been disappointed not to score.
"In some instances he stayed still and got on the ball, he had that opportunity in the first half where he did that and took the shot," Ian Wright said on ITV. "He'll be disappointed he didn't do better with that, but as long as he is staying in that area, I am really happy."
But Keane offered a characteristically unforgiving perspective. He responded: "The worry for me when we talk about players like this... I think he done okay.
"But the manager will be saying, 'Okay is not good enough. We need to be setting higher standards than that.'"
Thomas Tuchel appeared to share the former Manchester United captain's view when delivering his verdict on the display. "We missed the little moments to accelerate the game," the England boss said.
"Maybe Ebs didn't have his very best day in the No. 10 position. He trained so well in the decision making, but struggled a little bit.
"The last pass from Noni [Madueke] was not clinical enough, [Marcus] Rashford had some good moments but was not clinical, and couldn't finish them. We should have scored the second goal earlier."
England broke the deadlock when Madueke's delivery was deflected into his own goal by Christian Garcia in the 25th minute. However, they had to wait until the second half's midpoint to extend their advantage, with Declan Rice nodding home Reece James' deep delivery.
Debutant Elliot Anderson wasted the second period's clearest opportunity when thwarted by the keeper following Harry Kane's square ball that arrived fractionally behind him.
Tuchel will be demanding an improved showing when England plays Serbia in another World Cup qualifier on Tuesday in Belgrade.
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